All Roads Lead Back Here
by xoElle23
Summary: Four years later. The gang reunites in Tree Hill, but not for the happy reasons we all hope. Rated T for safety.
1. Prolouge

**Disclaimer: I do not own One Tree Hill in any way. All I own is my obsession. Anyway, all the credit goes to Mark Shwann! Shout out to Mark!**

_Hey guys! Another story! Horrah! I'm very excited to start this, but I have to warn you, I might not update quickly. Please don't hurt me! Anyway, here's the prologue…_

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"Haley! I'm home!" 23 year old Nathan Scott called as he entered the small two-bedroom apartment. The familiar scene of boxes, clutter, and toys greeted him. "Hales?" he called again.

"Daddy!" James yelled excitedly as he ran into his father's arms. He smiled "You're home!"

Nathan returned the smile. "Where's your mommy?"

"I think it was nap time."

"Huh?" James ignored his question and dragged his father upstairs to his bedroom where Nathan found his wife, asleep on his son's bed.

"Hales? Hales, wake up." He said gently shaking her awake.

Haley's eyes opened and she looked around. "What happened?"

"You falled asleep!" James said gleefully.

"Huh? Oh my god! What time is it?"

"Eleventy o'clock." her son answered.

Nathan chuckled. "It's almost six."

"Oh my god! I was just putting James' clothes away and I guess I sort of fell asleep." She looked as if she were about to cry.

Noticing this, Nathan turned to his son. "Buddy, why don't you go downstairs and watch TV? Mommy and I will be down to fix dinner in a few minutes."

James nodded and headed back downstairs. Nathan turned back to his wife, who was now sitting on the edge of the bed. "Nathan, I'm a horrible mother. Anything could've happened! He could've… I don't know, eaten glue or played with matches or something!"

"Hales, we don't have any of those things where he can reach them."

"He could've fallen down the stairs or electrocuted himself!"

Nathan pulled her into a hug and kissed her head. "Its fine, Hales. You're just tired and stressed. Soon the move will be over and we'll be back home and everything will be calm again."

Haley smiled. They had finally graduated college last year from Duke. During junior year Nathan had injured his knee and realized he wouldn't ever be able to achieve his dream of playing pro-ball. But as much as it hurt him, his leg finally healed and he and Haley had decided then that after college they'd move back to Tree Hill. Lucas was now coaching the Ravens while working on his next novel, and had agreed to let Nathan be his assistant coach. Haley had gotten a job as an English teacher, after getting her degree in education.

"So I'm not a bad mother?" Haley asked wiping her eyes.

"You're a great mother. A tired mother, but a great one none the less."

She smiled. "Thank-you." She kissed him. "Now let's go fix dinner. I'm starving."

"I'll get the mail." He grabbed James and headed towards the row of mailboxes a floor below them. As the unofficial 'mail sorter' his son grabbed the letters in the box and plopped himself down on the ground right there, as he always did.

"This one is for the president." He said laying it down to his left. "This one is for me, this one is for nobody, one for me, another one for me, and one for the ice-cream man."

Nathan chuckled. "Wow. You sure get a lot of mail."

James shrugged. "Lotsa people love me." He said handing the letters to his dad. Nathan began to flip through them as they walked back towards the apartment. Bill, bill, junk, bill, magazine, letter from Luke. Once back in the apartment he stuck Jamie in front of the TV again and went in the kitchen with Haley.

"I wonder what Luke sent us this time." She said after he showed her the letter. "Open it, Nate."

Nathan obeyed and pulled out a letter ad a newspaper clipping. He looked at the news clipping first and his eyes went wide.

"What's wrong?" Haley asked coming to read over his shoulder. She gasped. "Oh my god. Whitey died."


	2. Clothes Over Bro's Headquarters

_Hey people. Here's another chapter. I know it was quick! Yay me! But don't get used to it… _

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"_What's wrong?" Haley asked coming to read over his shoulder. She gasped. "Oh my god. Whitey died."_

---

"Thank-you for calling The Clothes Over Bro's Headquarters, please hold. Thank-you for calling The Clothes Over Bro's Headquarters, please hold." A receptionist said into her head set in upstate New York. "Ms. Davis, you have a call on line six." She said buzzing into her boss's office.

"Thanks Gretel." Came the reply.

"It's Gretchen." The woman responded, even though she knew it wouldn't make any difference. In the past two weeks she'd been working here, her boss had gotten her name right once. And that was only because she'd read her nametag on the first day.

Inside the brightly lit office sat Brooke Davis behind her desk. The summer she'd spent with Peyton in LA had turned out to be the best thing she'd ever done. The two friends hadn't been out there for a month and Brooke had been discovered by one of the highest fashion executives. After three years of grueling jobs that were way below her standards, she'd finally gotten her own line of clothes up and running. She now had four different lines: Clothes Over Bros, a line for woman; Clothes Over Hoes, a line for males; Clothes for the Knocked-Up Hoes, a maternity line; and Auntie Brooke's children's wear. She was currently working on her newest line of clothing: Clothes for the Mini-Hoes, a juniors line.

"This is Brooke Davis." She said picking up the phone.

"Hey Cheery." Said a familiar voice.

"Broody?" she guessed carefully.

"How's the Big Apple?"

"It's um, fine. How's Peyton?"

"She's good."

"Good. Well, er, how are you?"

"I'm good. I'm working on my third book."

"Oh, yeah. I heard that 'Ravens' got turned into a series. I have the first two books. They're really good." She said turning happy.

"Thanks. They're based on my life."

"I couldn't tell." She said beginning to laugh. "But seriously, you write really well. I love how you described the love triangle between Lance, Brenda, and Parker."

"Everyone keeps telling me what a cute story Nelson and Holly have." He chuckled.

"What can I say? Love like that lasts. I'm so glad they made it. I have to admit I got worried when Haley went on tour."

"I never doubted it. They're supposed to be together and they know that."

Brooke sighed. "Yeah."

"Listen, I actually called to tell you something."

She sat up straight. "What?"

"I don't know how to say this with-out it sounding awful. Then again, it is awful so it going to sound awful, right?"

"Lucas, tell me what's wrong? Is everyone okay?" she asked, starting to get worried.

"It's Whitey. He-"

"He's not sick is he?"

Lucas sighed. "I'm sorry, Brooke. He's dead."

Brooke froze. "What?"

"Whitey's dead. He had a heart attack a few days ago and he didn't make it."

"When's the funeral?"

"Next week but-"

"I'm coming home."

"Huh?"

"I'm coming home." She repeated. "This isn't something I want to miss. Whitey deserves everyone to be there. I'm ordering a plane ticket online as we speak."

Lucas sighed and decided not to argue. She was right, he did deserve it.

"Okay, I've got a ticket. I'll be arriving in Tree Hill at two tomorrow."

"I'll pick you up." He volunteered.

"No, that's okay. I'll just grab a cab. And I guess I'll get a room at a hotel or something…"

"Hell no! You're staying with me!" Peyton yelled from beside Lucas.

"Tell her I say Thanks."

"Okay. Nathan, Haley, and the baby are moving back into the house today. In fact, I should go. I promised I'd help them out."

"Okay, thanks for calling Luke."

"You're welcome Brooke."

"I'll see you tomorrow."

"Bye."

Brooke turned and buzzed her receptionist. "Gertie, I'm taking a few weeks off, let the office know."

---

"How'd she take it?" Peyton asked back in Tree Hill.

"A lot better than I thought she would." Lucas answered. "Her flight gets here around two tomorrow."

"Good. The service is next week, right?"

"Yeah. Next Wednesday." Lucas looked over at his beautiful girlfriend of five years. While spending the summer in LA with Brooke, she had realized something. Her life was in Tree Hill. It was where she grew up, where she met Lucas, and where she knew her heart would always belong. The summer internship had been fun, but not a day had gone by when she didn't miss home. The day her internship had finished, the company had offered her a permanent job in LA managing clubs. Peyton had turned them down deciding that she loved her job at Tric more and that she couldn't stand being away from everyone she loved so much.

"I'm heading home." She said giving Lucas a sweet kiss on the lips. "I have to get ready for Hurricane Brooke."

"Good luck."

---

"Mommy! Can you read me a story?" Five-year-old Lily Roe Scott asked her mother.

"Sure honey." Her mother said getting up from the computer. "What would you like to hear?"

"More of Lucas's book!" she said excitedly. Karen smiled. It amazed her how much she loved to learn and read at such a young age. She constantly begged her mother to let her start kindergarten, but Karen had told her repeatedly that she wasn't old enough. So she settled for her mother teaching her the basics at home.

She walked into her daughters room and pulled out the first 'Ravens' book. She joined her daughter on the couch, turned to Lily's favorite part, which she always requested, and began to read aloud. "_ 'Lance watched from the window high above the delivery room and the doctor delivered his new sibling. "It's a girl!" the doctor announced holding up the baby. A tear slid down Lance's cheek as he watched in amazement. He had never witnessed something so pure and truly amazing in all of his eighteen years.' _" She skipped ahead a few pages. "_"Everyone" Kitty Rod said entering her home with her newborn daughter. "I'd like you to meet Lola Rod Samuels."_ "

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"P.SAWYER!!!!" Brooke yelled as she entered her best friend's house the next afternoon.

"B.DAVIS!!!!" Peyton shouted as she engulfed the brunette in a tight hug.

"I've missed you!"

"I've missed you too! You look amazing."

"I always do." Brooke smiled. "But seriously, you look good too. Are those muscles?" she asked squeezing Peyton's upper arm. "How'd you get those?"

She smiled. "I've been working out with Luke a few times a week."

"Well it paid off. It looks like your ass shrunk at least two sizes."

"Um, thanks. Anyway, let's get you unpacked and go over to see Nathan and Haley."

"Why wait? My stuff will be here when we get back. Let's go now."

---

"Tigger!" Haley said as she threw open the door to what used to be Deb and Dan's but was now Haley and Nathan's house. Deb had sold them the house for a reasonably cheap price and moved in with Cooper, who had returned to Tree Hill to 'remember his roots' he had said, so that the family could finally have a house of their own.

"Tutor-Mom!" Brooke cried throwing her arms around Haley. She quickly let go and pushed into the house. "Where's my gorgeous godson?"

"Hey Haley" Peyton said following Brooke inside.

Haley smiled and shut the door. "Nathan and the baby are in the-"

"GODSON!"

"-living room. Never mind. I see Brooke's already found them."

"Give me my godson, you greedy Tutor-Dad." Brooke said taking the gurgling baby away from his father. "Hi James! Remember your Auntie Brookie? She sent you all of your wonderful Auntie Brooke's children's wear for absolutely no charge, remember?" James giggled. "Yes! I knew you'd remember! Hopefully your mommy picks out your clothes because your daddy would be arrested by the fashion police if he tried, wouldn't he?"

"Hey! I resent that!" Nathan said from his spot on the floor.

"Don't argue, honey." Haley said entering the living room followed closely by Peyton. "You know it's true."

He mumbled something about 'Women being unfair' but everyone ignored him.

"So, Brooke I'm really glad you're here." Haley finally said.

"Thanks. Sucky reason though."

"Yeah."

She paused. "How'd it happen? I mean, Luke gave me the basics on the phone but what really happened?"

Nathan sighed and began to explain. "He'd been complaining of chest pains for a few weeks. We all told him to see a doctor but he said it was just heart burn and ignored it. A few weeks later Luke and I went over to his house since he hadn't answered anyone's calls and we found him on the bathroom floor. The hospital said he'd had a massive heart attack and he ended up going into a coma. He finally started having another heart attack and he just…" he trailed off, not able to finish.

Brooke shook her head. "It's not fair. He didn't deserve that."

"No, he didn't."

"Me and Luke talked about it." Peyton spoke up. "We thought maybe we could have everyone bring a single flower and lay it on his casket and say something to him at the funeral. And then Luke said we could try to get his championship Raven's team to sign a ball and burry it with him."

Haley smiled a little. "Peyton, that's a wonderful idea."

Nathan nodded. "Yeah, let's do it for Whitey."

---

_There you go! Reviews please! I'll give you cake!_


	3. Remembering Whitey Durham

_Hey guys! It was brought to my attention in a review from the last chapter that in the prologue I made James about four and in chapter 1 I made it seem as if he was a baby. That was a mistake on my part 100, so I apologize hugely. To clear things up, James is about four in this story. I just wasn't thinking the other day and it didn't occur to me what I was doing. I'd like to thank Brutus for pointing that out to me! YAY BRUTUS!!! Anyway, chapter two……_

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Rachel Gatina pulled her new Range Rover to a stop outside Peyton's house and honked the horn three times. After receiving the news about the former Raven's coach, she had left her LA modeling career and headed back to Tree Hill. Finally after about five minutes, Peyton and Brooke emerged from the house, both in black dresses.

"Wow, for once you don't look like such a slut. Funerals must have an effect on you." Brooke said climbing into the passenger's seat. "How are ya, bitch?"

Rachel shrugged. "The same. Hot, single, and a hell of a lot better in bed than you."

"That's right guys. Get it all out now. Because if you act like this at the funeral quite a few people, Lucas and myself included, will have to kill you." Peyton said from the backseat.

"It's nice to see you too, Peyton."

"Hey Rachel, you dropped something."

"What?"

"Your dignity"

Rachel laughed. "I never had any to start with."

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"Hey guys." Bevin said giving them all hugs at the church later that day.

Brooke smiled. "Hello Mrs. Bevin Tanner. I hear you finally got hitched to that man of yours last summer."

"Yeah. We went to Vegas. It was awesome. But, um, maybe we should talk about that later."

"Yeah."

"Hi guys." A familiar voice said coming up behind them. They all grinned and gave Marvin McFadden a hug.

"Where have you been these last few years?" Brooke asked after pulling away.

"I went to Harvard and got a degree in Political Science. Incase the whole sports announcer thing doesn't work out, I'll have something to fall back on."

"Congratulations, Mouth."

"Thank-you."

"Yo guys, the service is about to start." Skills said coming down the front steps. "We should grab our seats."

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"And now we'll hear a few words from some of Brian's close friends." The priest said a few minutes later. "We'll begin with Ms. Karen Roe."

Karen nodded and took her place at the podium. "Most of you know me as Karen Roe, Lucas and Lily's mom; Or Karen Roe, owner of Karen's Café and Tric; Or even Karen Roe, the almost mayor of Tree Hill. But Brian Durham knew me as just Karen. I've known Whitey for…. more years that I can keep track of. He always had time to talk to me when I needed advice or just a few caring or inspiring words and he was always willing to help me out. He kept an eye on Lucas for me as he grew up and look at him now. He's an amazing young man and I know he wouldn't have turned out as good as he has if Whitey hadn't been there. As all of you know, he loved basketball. And I agree he loved the game. But I know he loved the players even more. From the face he had when his Ravens won the state championship four years ago, I could just tell he was happy about winning, sure, but he was _proud_ that he could call each and every one of those guys _his_ _team_. So today we honor Brian Durham. All of us. His true team." She stepped back down and the priest waited for the applause to subside before he introduced the next person.

"Next we'll hear from Mr. Nathan Scott."

"I didn't know you were writing a eulogy!" Haley whispered as Nathan stood up.

"I wanted it to be a surprise." He answered before walking up to the front. "Um, hi." He began nervously. "I'm Nathan Scott. I'm not really the best with speeches, so, you'll just have to bear with me. Brian Durham was many things. A coach, a husband, a mentor, but to most of us he was just…Whitey. That's it. Just plain old Whitey Durham. The strong, loyal, independent, and sometimes lonely… Whitey. I don't think any of us ever imagined this day coming so soon, much less imagined it coming at all. I mean, come on, we all thought Whitey would somehow outlive every single one of us." The crowd chuckled and Nathan took this as a good sign and continued. "I played for Whitey all four years of High School and I gotta admit, he put me though hell." More laughter. "But I know for a fact I wouldn't be standing here right now as the man I am today with out Whitey. He helped me through some pretty rough times. And I know he's happy now. He's with his wife who I know he loved more than life itself. So, as sad as this whole thing is, we have to remember that he's in a better place, looking down on us. And I think we can all agree that Whitey deserved the best."

"Nathan I can't believe you wrote that all by yourself!" Haley exclaimed quietly once he had returned to his seat. "Whitey would be so proud of you."

"Thanks Hales. It felt good."

"Lastly we'll hear from Ms. Peyton Sawyer." Peyton received many surprised looks as she took her place behind the podium.

"When I was little, I lost my mom and growing up my dad was always away with work. And for awhile I felt abandoned and ended up going to a pretty dark place. But a few special people helped me out. Whitey Durham was one of those people. We didn't talk often, but when we did it meant something. We had a lot in common, actually. We were both getting over the loss of someone very important to us and somehow, that brought us closer together. I'm pretty sure Whitey was the only one I'd ever taken to visit my mom. And I'm glad I did. Because, it helped, you know? He helped. He told me the truth and he gave me advice but he wasn't overbearing. Whitey Durham was truly wonderful man. Any while he may no longer be with us physically, I know for a fact that he'll always be with us. So, here's to Whitey Durham: The man who wasn't just a coach or someone who loved basketball, but who was an amazing friend with an even more amazing heart."

She stepped back down to her seat while blushing profusely from the applause she was receiving.

"And now, if you all will, please follow us as we put Brian to rest." The crowd stood up and headed to their cars to begin the drive to the cemetery.

---

Looking around the cemetery Lucas tried to take in his surroundings. He saw the priest and the mortician preparing for the second part of the service to start; Haley crying into Nathan's shoulder, not bothering to hide her tears. He noticed Brooke and Peyton holding each other and sniffling, a tear running down one of their faces every now and then; And surprisingly, Rachel being the shoulder for Mouth to lean on. So many people brought together for such a terrible thing. How come it took something like this? He wondered. Had they all grown so far apart as to needing a funeral to bring them together?

"Ladies and gentlemen, please join us as we say good-bye to our dear friend, Brian Durham." Everyone took their respective places around the freshly dug grave and listened as the priest said a few prayers, wishing Whitey a good life in wherever God chose to take him next. After the casket had been lowered into the ground and the grave had been re-filled, a large tombstone was place upon the soil. It read:

_Brian 'Whitey' Durham_

_1941- 2011_

_You will be loved and missed, but never forgotten._

-♥-

Lucas noticed the tombstone next to Whitey's and smiled as he read:

_Camilla Elaine Durham_

_1943- 1995_

_May you wait here and then continue on with your beloved husband._

-♥-

He nodded and realized Nathan was right. Whitey was in a better place and they didn't have to worry. His wife would take care of him now.

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_So there you go! I'm sorry Lily and James didn't make an appearance in this chapter but they're much too little for a funeral. I hope I wrote the funeral okay. To be perfectly honest, I've never been to one. So their may have been a few mistakes. But I hope you liked it anyway. I also may have gotten Whitey and Camilla's birth year, as well as Camilla's middle name and year of passing wrong. I couldn't find it, so I just made it up. As always, reviews are very much appreciated! _


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